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mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
“Three little girls all eating things they weren’t supposed to eat. Three little girls all eating things in order to fill their bodies with something other than the anger, the rage, that would otherwise consume them.”
I was excited that I could read this book, and it was perfect for Halloween! Spooky things are happening in this one, and a mystery is there to be unfolded. Family, rage, grief, and more. It was well-written and I absolutely ADORE the cover.
The anger? That runs apparently in more of the women in the family. NOPE. I am sorry but I was severely disturbed by that. I mean, I get angry at times as well, and I could understand getting angry at the people that did shit like this, but not like this. This was just unhealthy, dangerous, get a therapist and help, kind of rage. The kind of rage that made them red in the face. The kind of rage that made them not care how far they had to go. The rage that made them think of horrible things. They didn’t care if they broke a person. It was at times too much.
The house and the past were spooky and scary. The house just screamed NOPE to me the moment that Jane and her mother arrived. And then spooky things kept happening. Shadows, a marble rolling around, noises and bumps, shadows, lights going on when there was no electricity, and more. I was definitely on an edge and very curious what was happening. Who was haunting this house? Why? It was really well-written.
The mental health part was well-written. Yes, I don’t eat books, but I can imagine why Jane did it.
I loved the girls Jane befriended, they were such sweet girls and I love that they took Jane as a friend, talked to her, did some fun things. Given that one of the girls is the one who just had to guide Jane through her first week of high school I hadn’t expected them to bond this much. Love it.
Wasn’t a fan of the bully girl. Near the end we learn some more things on why she is behaving like this, but what the actual fuck girl? Jane doesn’t know anything about your past or how it all connects, instead of being a bitch maybe just tell her normally and I am sure that Jane could have helped you out. In some way or another.
I do wish that Jane’s mother had been more honest about things. About what happened years ago. I am glad that the mom did take things a bit more serious than most parents or adults in horror. Of course, there are moments she is the typical adult, but there are thankfully moments that she is listening. She tries her best to make Jane feel at home. Plus, I am happy that she was honest about the money issues. That she talked to Jane. That reminds me of a horror I saw recently (around the time I read this one) for Halloween in which the mother hid away why they had money problems until the boy just got angry at her and she had to throw it out.
But the ending? I am really conflicted on that one. On the one hand, DANG and WTF, but on the other hand? WTF? Why is this the ending? How? Can we get an epilogue? Something else? It just came out of the blue.
All in all, though this was one spooky read about grief, mental health and a big (unhealthy as I would call it given everything) portion of rage. Recommended.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I was excited that I could read this book, and it was perfect for Halloween! Spooky things are happening in this one, and a mystery is there to be unfolded. Family, rage, grief, and more. It was well-written and I absolutely ADORE the cover.
The anger? That runs apparently in more of the women in the family. NOPE. I am sorry but I was severely disturbed by that. I mean, I get angry at times as well, and I could understand getting angry at the people that did shit like this, but not like this. This was just unhealthy, dangerous, get a therapist and help, kind of rage. The kind of rage that made them red in the face. The kind of rage that made them not care how far they had to go. The rage that made them think of horrible things. They didn’t care if they broke a person. It was at times too much.
The house and the past were spooky and scary. The house just screamed NOPE to me the moment that Jane and her mother arrived. And then spooky things kept happening. Shadows, a marble rolling around, noises and bumps, shadows, lights going on when there was no electricity, and more. I was definitely on an edge and very curious what was happening. Who was haunting this house? Why? It was really well-written.
The mental health part was well-written. Yes, I don’t eat books, but I can imagine why Jane did it.
I loved the girls Jane befriended, they were such sweet girls and I love that they took Jane as a friend, talked to her, did some fun things. Given that one of the girls is the one who just had to guide Jane through her first week of high school I hadn’t expected them to bond this much. Love it.
Wasn’t a fan of the bully girl. Near the end we learn some more things on why she is behaving like this, but what the actual fuck girl? Jane doesn’t know anything about your past or how it all connects, instead of being a bitch maybe just tell her normally and I am sure that Jane could have helped you out. In some way or another.
I do wish that Jane’s mother had been more honest about things. About what happened years ago. I am glad that the mom did take things a bit more serious than most parents or adults in horror. Of course, there are moments she is the typical adult, but there are thankfully moments that she is listening. She tries her best to make Jane feel at home. Plus, I am happy that she was honest about the money issues. That she talked to Jane. That reminds me of a horror I saw recently (around the time I read this one) for Halloween in which the mother hid away why they had money problems until the boy just got angry at her and she had to throw it out.
But the ending? I am really conflicted on that one. On the one hand, DANG and WTF, but on the other hand? WTF? Why is this the ending? How? Can we get an epilogue? Something else? It just came out of the blue.
All in all, though this was one spooky read about grief, mental health and a big (unhealthy as I would call it given everything) portion of rage. Recommended.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
lolarobles's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
yessenyan's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
A repetitive book with lots of wasted potential inevitably ending with a disappointing and underwhelming finale. It was laughable and entertaining at best.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Child death, and Death
crosswarrior7's review against another edition
2.0
This review will be shorter most likely because, well… I was not the biggest fan of this book.
I have never read horror books. I have read mystery/thriller, though mostly the detective type. The one psychological one I read was by a friend, and it was amazing.
So this was my first book I read that was actually supposed to be a horror, and, well… I was just disappointed. I don’t know if it is the type of horror or what. It’s a haunted house psychological horror. Our main character Jane recently lost her father, and she’s feeling a lot of grief and anger from that, which doesn’t help by the fact her and her mother have to move back to her mom’s original home, which has a lot of mystery and unease surrounding it.
The concept was cool. I was curious about it. I liked the idea of a character facing grief, I liked how real Jane and her mother were, I liked the genuine friendships. I liked the characters overall.
Just… It felt like nothing happened. There is a part in the back of the book that mentions a ghost. So, like, it already gives away there is a ghost in the house.
That passage doesn’t appear until the last 50-ish pages…
I guess people could say the strength of this story is with Jane’s mental state and how she handles everything, but it just always felt a couple steps away from really hitting.
I expected the horror elements and how she dealt with that to give the few extra steps. To bring it all together and really give that punch. It just… It didn’t.
I may have liked this book more if the ending didn’t feel so rushed? I don’t know if that’s how horrors usually work. Like, the tension was so underlying for so long it just… It wasn’t there by the end.
It probably doesn’t help that when things did start happening, it felt distant. And Jane’s character felt like nothing had changed. Nothing had developed. It had been, maybe, and then it… Wasn’t. Which some may enjoy the way her character went. I didn’t, for multiple reasons, the main one being that it fell flat.
It felt a lot like we were left at a place where more needed to happen afterwards for Jane to feel more human. Maybe that’s the issue. Come the end, she didn’t really feel all that human at times, and I couldn’t really tell if that was intentional.
I also couldn’t tell if this was all supposed to tie into mental illness or if it was supposed to be some sort of demonic thing? Like, cool, open ending… But so open ended that things feel confusing? I get the supernatural doesn’t always get an explanation, but, like… How to word this without spoilers.
There is definitely this thing surrounding the North family, and you cannot tell if it is being portrayed as some sort of psychological issue or a supernatural issue, because it definitely leans more in one direction, but then the author tries to tie it psychological when it feels supernatural and it just never really feels tied together.
I liked the idea of this book. It had potential. I honestly may have liked this book more as an exploration of grief and dealing with it than the horror story it was, because a lot of the horror elements felt a little flat, and it made the other elements feel flat as well. This 100% could just be a case of “not for me” type books though. If the summary and the idea of a psychological “haunted house with a past” story appeals to you with a very slow burn horror, then you may love this!
I just did not...
I have never read horror books. I have read mystery/thriller, though mostly the detective type. The one psychological one I read was by a friend, and it was amazing.
So this was my first book I read that was actually supposed to be a horror, and, well… I was just disappointed. I don’t know if it is the type of horror or what. It’s a haunted house psychological horror. Our main character Jane recently lost her father, and she’s feeling a lot of grief and anger from that, which doesn’t help by the fact her and her mother have to move back to her mom’s original home, which has a lot of mystery and unease surrounding it.
The concept was cool. I was curious about it. I liked the idea of a character facing grief, I liked how real Jane and her mother were, I liked the genuine friendships. I liked the characters overall.
Just… It felt like nothing happened. There is a part in the back of the book that mentions a ghost. So, like, it already gives away there is a ghost in the house.
That passage doesn’t appear until the last 50-ish pages…
I guess people could say the strength of this story is with Jane’s mental state and how she handles everything, but it just always felt a couple steps away from really hitting.
I expected the horror elements and how she dealt with that to give the few extra steps. To bring it all together and really give that punch. It just… It didn’t.
I may have liked this book more if the ending didn’t feel so rushed? I don’t know if that’s how horrors usually work. Like, the tension was so underlying for so long it just… It wasn’t there by the end.
It probably doesn’t help that when things did start happening, it felt distant. And Jane’s character felt like nothing had changed. Nothing had developed. It had been, maybe, and then it… Wasn’t. Which some may enjoy the way her character went. I didn’t, for multiple reasons, the main one being that it fell flat.
It felt a lot like we were left at a place where more needed to happen afterwards for Jane to feel more human. Maybe that’s the issue. Come the end, she didn’t really feel all that human at times, and I couldn’t really tell if that was intentional.
I also couldn’t tell if this was all supposed to tie into mental illness or if it was supposed to be some sort of demonic thing? Like, cool, open ending… But so open ended that things feel confusing? I get the supernatural doesn’t always get an explanation, but, like… How to word this without spoilers.
There is definitely this thing surrounding the North family, and you cannot tell if it is being portrayed as some sort of psychological issue or a supernatural issue, because it definitely leans more in one direction, but then the author tries to tie it psychological when it feels supernatural and it just never really feels tied together.
I liked the idea of this book. It had potential. I honestly may have liked this book more as an exploration of grief and dealing with it than the horror story it was, because a lot of the horror elements felt a little flat, and it made the other elements feel flat as well. This 100% could just be a case of “not for me” type books though. If the summary and the idea of a psychological “haunted house with a past” story appeals to you with a very slow burn horror, then you may love this!
I just did not...
issianne's review against another edition
4.0
I don’t have much to say about this one except for thank goodness I wasn’t at home alone while I read this. It created a very creepy atmosphere that had me constantly questioning what was real or not. There are many questions that remain unanswered, but I kinda love that from my eerie books… if you’re a fan of “Sharp Objects” or “The Companion,” it gave me similar vibes!!
hey_hail's review against another edition
4.0
I was honestly ready to be disappointed but then the ending saved it.
dowryofbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
To anyone still looking for spooky books to pick up— this book is the (and I can’t stress this enough) PERFECT atmospheric read for October.
Despite my average rating, I am so glad I finally decided to try one of Katrina Leno's works, because her writing is fantastic.
————————
This story opens with our teen protagonist Jane and her mother Ruth moving from California to small town Maine after the sudden death of Jane’s dad and Ruth’s husband. Ruth’s old family home is a gothic mansion everyone in the town refers to as North Manor. Shortly after living in North Manor, Jane starts to realize that something isn’t right. Her mom and the townspeople all seem to know something she doesn’t about the house and Ruth’s past. On top of that, strange things begin to happen inside the house that only Jane seems to be seeing.
The book leaves us guessing up until the end, are the things Jane is going through a manifestation of her grief, mental illness, or something more...horrid?
————————
I’d say much of this book is a slow burn, but it’s very atmospheric. I was just taking my time with this and enjoying the beautiful, descriptive writing. I wanna talk about the things I really enjoyed before I get to the one thing I didn’t.
Ruth and Jane’s relationship. Especially towards the beginning, the cute banter they had with each other. I really love a sweet mother/daughter relationship. I also enjoyed Jane’s relationships with Alana and Susie. I loved the setting and for the thousandth time—the atmosphere!! It didn’t feel fall to me until I read this book.
One of my favorite things were all the things this book had to say about grief and anger. Jane's struggle with both made her such an interesting character to me.
Small towns are also some of my favorite settings in books so this really ticked all my boxes. The first 80 ish percent is amazing. My issues were with the ending.
The way this was written was just SO good. I thought everything in this book was going to build up to something much more climactic. Which is why the ending was so disappointing for me. I can’t say much without spoilers but the ending definitely needed to be more fleshed out in my opinion. It felt too abrupt and I don’t understand the author's purpose for ending it the way she did. I honestly can’t make any sense of it. I have so many questions!!!
Ambiguous endings are usually a hit or miss for me and this one was unfortunately a miss. I’m so disappointed, because I loved the rest of this book so much. If you’re the same way about endings, you may love the ending. I would still highly recommend this to anyone if the premise sounds interesting to you and you’re a fan of YA horror.
————————
Recommend if you’re looking for:
- An autumnal/spooky read to get in the spooky season spirit (seriously the atmosphere in this is 10/10- theres a halloween dance!)
- Gothic (possibly haunted?) house setting
- Small town vibes
- Agatha christie vibes
- A nice mother/daughter relationship
- Themes of grief and genetic mental illness (i.e. anger and an eating disorder)
TW: the eating disorder is specifically pica.
To anyone still looking for spooky books to pick up— this book is the (and I can’t stress this enough) PERFECT atmospheric read for October.
Despite my average rating, I am so glad I finally decided to try one of Katrina Leno's works, because her writing is fantastic.
————————
There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.
This story opens with our teen protagonist Jane and her mother Ruth moving from California to small town Maine after the sudden death of Jane’s dad and Ruth’s husband. Ruth’s old family home is a gothic mansion everyone in the town refers to as North Manor. Shortly after living in North Manor, Jane starts to realize that something isn’t right. Her mom and the townspeople all seem to know something she doesn’t about the house and Ruth’s past. On top of that, strange things begin to happen inside the house that only Jane seems to be seeing.
The book leaves us guessing up until the end, are the things Jane is going through a manifestation of her grief, mental illness, or something more...horrid?
————————
I’d say much of this book is a slow burn, but it’s very atmospheric. I was just taking my time with this and enjoying the beautiful, descriptive writing. I wanna talk about the things I really enjoyed before I get to the one thing I didn’t.
Ruth and Jane’s relationship. Especially towards the beginning, the cute banter they had with each other. I really love a sweet mother/daughter relationship. I also enjoyed Jane’s relationships with Alana and Susie. I loved the setting and for the thousandth time—the atmosphere!! It didn’t feel fall to me until I read this book.
One of my favorite things were all the things this book had to say about grief and anger. Jane's struggle with both made her such an interesting character to me.
"Grief doesn't have a rule book. You're allowed to feel every emotion under the sun. You're even allowed to invent new ones."
Small towns are also some of my favorite settings in books so this really ticked all my boxes. The first 80 ish percent is amazing. My issues were with the ending.
The way this was written was just SO good. I thought everything in this book was going to build up to something much more climactic. Which is why the ending was so disappointing for me. I can’t say much without spoilers but the ending definitely needed to be more fleshed out in my opinion. It felt too abrupt and I don’t understand the author's purpose for ending it the way she did. I honestly can’t make any sense of it. I have so many questions!!!
Ambiguous endings are usually a hit or miss for me and this one was unfortunately a miss. I’m so disappointed, because I loved the rest of this book so much. If you’re the same way about endings, you may love the ending. I would still highly recommend this to anyone if the premise sounds interesting to you and you’re a fan of YA horror.
————————
Recommend if you’re looking for:
- An autumnal/spooky read to get in the spooky season spirit (seriously the atmosphere in this is 10/10- theres a halloween dance!)
- Gothic (possibly haunted?) house setting
- Small town vibes
- Agatha christie vibes
- A nice mother/daughter relationship
- Themes of grief and genetic mental illness (i.e. anger and an eating disorder)
TW: the eating disorder is specifically pica.
honnari_hannya's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars
Generally don't think YA horror is super effective, but this was one of the most effective I've read yet. For fans that enjoyed the mystery of Rory Power's BURN OUR BODIES DOWN, the protagonists of books like SADIE by Courtney Summers and THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Mindy McGinnis, or just the general vibe of Gillian Flynn's SHARP OBJECTS but age-appropriate for an older teen.
The story begins with Jane and her mother, Ruth, leaving sun-soaked California for the bitter cold of Maine after Greer (husband, father, and general impulse-control of the family) dies suddenly. They end up in Ruth's family home, which has been abandoned since Jane's grandmother passed away; Ruth has never been back since she left two decades ago, and Jane has never set foot in her mother's home town. As with all large, creepy houses, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen as dark family secrets slowly get unravelled.
Pros:
- The creepy house is very creepy. I will say that Leno has a very good instinct for writing dread, which absolutely works in her favor when she leans into the horror aspect of this story.
- Jane is such an unlikeable girl and I love that for her. I am always saying that there should be more unlikeable girls—and unlikeable in a not pretty or endearing way—in YA fiction. She is petty, easily angered, kind of standoffish; honestly one of the most believable teenagers I've read in a long while.
- Did I mention creepy house? Well, there are also creepy children.
Cons: To be honest, these are mostly personal pet peeves that other people might not care about but kept me from giving this a 4 star rating.
- The flirting is so cringy... I guess it's believably cringy? I don't know, it wouldn't kill authors to just not have a love interest.
- Leno has a tendency to overemphasize things that she has already made a point of. Whether it's repeating certain phrases, or stating someone's quirks again and again and again. It gets a little bit tiring and I sometimes glazed over it. I felt like if her editor had just cut out those parts, it would take off at least a third of the page count.
- The repetitiveness also had the effect of distancing me from Jane's emotions at times. We kept getting the same phrases and it never felt like her character got much development; her grief was present, but it was flat, which made me less interested overall in her as a character although I still think she counts as a pro of this book.
- A personal thing, but there is something about Leno's writing that I just don't get on with even though I love her ideas. There is always something a little bit off about her pacing for me—its a slow build, which I don't mind and even prefer, but it feels drawn out for no reason for at least half the book. However, I did think the pay off at the end was so much better than the only other book I read from her, which was [b:You Must Not Miss|38446644|You Must Not Miss|Katrina Leno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533654006l/38446644._SY75_.jpg|60073699], and she has the potential to become a favorite if only she just pushes her stories just a little bit more to the side of horror. I can tell she wants to.
Mixed feelings on this, but I would definitely pick up another Katrina Leno book if she writes another horror.
Generally don't think YA horror is super effective, but this was one of the most effective I've read yet. For fans that enjoyed the mystery of Rory Power's BURN OUR BODIES DOWN, the protagonists of books like SADIE by Courtney Summers and THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Mindy McGinnis, or just the general vibe of Gillian Flynn's SHARP OBJECTS but age-appropriate for an older teen.
The story begins with Jane and her mother, Ruth, leaving sun-soaked California for the bitter cold of Maine after Greer (husband, father, and general impulse-control of the family) dies suddenly. They end up in Ruth's family home, which has been abandoned since Jane's grandmother passed away; Ruth has never been back since she left two decades ago, and Jane has never set foot in her mother's home town. As with all large, creepy houses, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen as dark family secrets slowly get unravelled.
Pros:
- The creepy house is very creepy. I will say that Leno has a very good instinct for writing dread, which absolutely works in her favor when she leans into the horror aspect of this story.
- Jane is such an unlikeable girl and I love that for her. I am always saying that there should be more unlikeable girls—and unlikeable in a not pretty or endearing way—in YA fiction. She is petty, easily angered, kind of standoffish; honestly one of the most believable teenagers I've read in a long while.
- Did I mention creepy house? Well, there are also creepy children.
Cons: To be honest, these are mostly personal pet peeves that other people might not care about but kept me from giving this a 4 star rating.
- The flirting is so cringy... I guess it's believably cringy? I don't know, it wouldn't kill authors to just not have a love interest.
- Leno has a tendency to overemphasize things that she has already made a point of. Whether it's repeating certain phrases, or stating someone's quirks again and again and again. It gets a little bit tiring and I sometimes glazed over it. I felt like if her editor had just cut out those parts, it would take off at least a third of the page count.
- The repetitiveness also had the effect of distancing me from Jane's emotions at times. We kept getting the same phrases and it never felt like her character got much development; her grief was present, but it was flat, which made me less interested overall in her as a character although I still think she counts as a pro of this book.
- A personal thing, but there is something about Leno's writing that I just don't get on with even though I love her ideas. There is always something a little bit off about her pacing for me—its a slow build, which I don't mind and even prefer, but it feels drawn out for no reason for at least half the book. However, I did think the pay off at the end was so much better than the only other book I read from her, which was [b:You Must Not Miss|38446644|You Must Not Miss|Katrina Leno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533654006l/38446644._SY75_.jpg|60073699], and she has the potential to become a favorite if only she just pushes her stories just a little bit more to the side of horror. I can tell she wants to.
Mixed feelings on this, but I would definitely pick up another Katrina Leno book if she writes another horror.
l0ss's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Nothing really interesting happened in this book until the last chapter…just a lot of hints at a great mystery instead of actually being a great mystery book.